


everybody talks too much

by Blue_bird16



Category: The Bastards Crew, The Mechanisms (Band)
Genre: 5+1 Things, Gen, Gender-Neutral Pronouns, Murder, Nonverbal Character, but its temporary hes fine, he's dead but he's fine, i love.........the bastards, the major character death is also temporary
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-12
Updated: 2019-06-12
Packaged: 2020-05-02 06:51:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,884
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19193890
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blue_bird16/pseuds/Blue_bird16
Summary: five times Ikarus fucked up saying someone else's name, and one (1) time he didn't.





	everybody talks too much

**Author's Note:**

> i have a no fun allowed robot edited to say "no sad allowed" that i keep around for Reasons but i just tossed that thing out the window by the end of this (sorry)  
> again most of these characters aren't mine they belong to my friends (or the man Jonny Sims himself) i'm just messing around with them

also! introducing [AwkwardDuckProducktions](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AwkwardDuckProducktions/pseuds/AwkwardDuckProducktions)' beautiful beautiful boy Anansi whom i Love! we got big plans for that boy askdhjflkasdf

* * *

 

Being an undying immortal with eternal pneumonia had its...minor difficulties. Sometimes.

~

1.) Ikarus knocked affectionately on the wall of the _Cassandra_ when he landed. He wasn’t sure when he started doing that, it must’ve been recently, but it was a small habit impossible to suppress now.

 _‘You’re not welcome here! You will lay uneasy now!’_ _Cass_ sang out in response, the main door between the shuttle bay and the rest of the ship hissing open. Ikarus’ lips quirked, mostly in amusement, somewhat to hide the spilt-second of panic that came before he remembered _Cass_ ’ modus operandi of always lying. He’d been returning to the _Cass_ with some regularity for some five hundred odd years now, but he wasn’t sure he’d ever get used to a lying AI _somethinginhimitchedtofixthatcodebutweallknowhowwellikarusandcodemixedthesedays._

He waved in no particular direction, sure her sensors could pick him up, and headed to the galley.

 _‘You wouldn't want Pip to know you're home, right?’ Cass_ asked. Ikarus nodded. He could faintly hear _Cass_ ’s voice relaying the message somewhere deep in the ship, too far to make out the words, but close enough to hear Pip’s excited shout.

Ikarus smiled softly, just for a second, when he heard the clumsy clumping of booted feet. He shifted the harpoon gun out of where it could potentially stick Pip, then continued on to the galley.

“Ikarus!” they joyfully cried, rounding a corner and ramming full speed into him. Ikarus huffed, then bent to accommodate their hug before slinging them up onto his shoulders with a practised ease.

“You’re back early! Find anything cool out there? Bring me anything? How did landing go? You speak to Fara yet?” Pip rattled off, instantly starting to play with Ikarus’ hair and running their clever fingers over his new fuzz. Ikarus let them ramble, throat working up the nerve to speak as Pip’s familiar weight across his shoulders settled him after being adrift.

He inhaled to speak, ignoring a hitch to his breath, and hoarsely said: “Peep--”

His voice cracked on his friend’s name. Ikarus froze. Pip’s fingers accidentally caught harshly against a stubborn curl in Ikarus’ hair. Silence.

“Did--” Pip started, then stopped again. Ikarus lightly bit his lip. “Did you just call me _Peep_?” they demanded. Ikarus couldn’t tell if they were amused or angry.

“No?” he rasped, which started a coughing fit.

 _‘No, he didn’t!’ Cas_ argued from the ceiling. Ikarus could only cough pitifully in response. No oil leaked, at least. A slight giggle sounded above him.

“You fucked up my name so _bad_ , Ikarus!” Pip laughed. “ _Peep!”_ they repeated in glee.

Ikarus huffed a laugh, wary of setting off another coughing fit, but relieved his mistake hadn’t ruined things. Pip may remind him of _nononodon’tthinkhisnamenothere_ and they seemed to trust him completely, but was constantly afraid of overstepping some invisible boundary with them.

‘Well,’ he thought ruefully as he absentmindedly nipped at a wondering boot, ‘haven’t fucked things up yet.’

~

2.) Ikarus blinked slowly awake. His head was pillowed awkwardly between the armrest and the back of the pilot’s chair of the _Partridge_ , Pip curled up at his feet and idly playing with a small hologram of some mechanical... _thing_. They hummed softly as they messed with it, but Ikarus was used to that now. What had woken him up?

A throat--not his nor Pip’s--cleared. Sleepily, he looked over his shoulder to see a thin figure standing next to his chair, the soft purple glow from Pip’s hologram lighting his sharp features in a pleasing lilac light: Anansi. Ikarus, surprisingly, didn’t startle, and instead only stares softly at him.

“You two should find better places to sleep,” he said carefully, mindful of the quiet atmosphere in the cockpit of the _Partridge_.

“Says the one who sleeps in the vents,” Pip muttered back, not unkindly. Anansi flushed a little.

“Enough out of you, you little shit,” he replied, smiling slightly to take the bite out of his words. Pip only grinned up at him in response, then turned their attentions back to their project. Anansi focused his own attentions on Ikarus.

“Sleep well, dearie?” he asked while slowly, with plenty of warning, bringing a hand to Ikarus’ shoulder to land gently. Ikarus nodded, opening his mouth to speak.

“ _Yuh Ananas_ ,” he slurred. Anansi blinked. Pip burst into giggles, and Anansi laughed airily. Ikarus’ brow furrowed in tired confusion. “ _Ananas_ ,” he repeated insistently.

“Oh, close enough, I guess,” Anansi breathed as Pip’s giggles slowly died down. A comfortable silence settled over the trio like a blanket.

Until Pip suddenly asked innocently: “Didn’t Phantomness say that meant ‘pineapple?’”

~

3.) “--in, Ikarus, where the fuck are you?” a stern voice crackled over the _Partridge_ ’s radio. Ikarus dropped his bag on the pilot’s chair and leaned over the receiver, snapping sharply three times to show he was there.

“About fucking time. Haven’t heard from you in six months, Scout. You planning on coming back?” Fara demanded. The captain herself. Ikarus was in trouble.

He snapped once for “Yes.” This would be so much easier with Hector, who actually knew Morse code. Not much use for it anymore, out here in the black, so it was a miracle _anybody_ knew it.

“Goddammit, Ikarus, what possessed you to drop off the map this time? You have a job to do out there, you know, or have you forgotten that you have people relying on you back here?” they asked, suddenly sounding more tired than annoyed. Ikarus swallowed. He snapped out “Sorry,” knowing she wouldn’t understand, but words wouldn’t leave his throat today.

“Just. Stay in better contact, okay?” she asked. Ikarus snapped once more, jaw working, wanting to talk but _unable to make the words unstick from his throat_ . This had nothing to do with the oil. He’d had days like this even before _nononoyoucan’tthinkabout thatnowstayfocusedbrat_ , so he was no stranger to the helpless frustration rising like the tide within him.

“We _do_ worry about you, you know. Pip especially. Their work is as efficient as ever, despite their obvious distraction. Just--” she broke off into a sigh, static crackling between the light years between them. “Come back to us soon, ok, Ikarus?”

Ikarus’ breath hitched. “F--” he tried. A questioning hum from the radio. Ikarus took another deep breath, needing to speak suddenly. He didn’t know why, he just _had to_.

“ _Ferrell_ ,” he croaked out. A surprised laugh burst from the radio. All urgency fled the scenario as Ikarus’ cheeks warmed in embarrassment.

“If you weren’t already crazy, I’d say you’ve caught star madness, you bastard,” Fara chuckled, sounding the giddiest Ikarus has ever heard her. “Fly home straight, sailor,” she said. Ikarus cleared his throat, nodded, realized she couldn’t see him, then snapped once clearly for “Yes.” Fara signed off with another chuckle.

Ikarus sat harshly on the pilot’s chair, embarrassment still thrumming beneath his skin. He jumped up again when something cracked beneath him, forgetting his bag had been there.

What a day.

~

4.) The first face he sees when landing on the _Cass_ is pretty regularly one of four: Hector, through the shuttle bay window, helping him maneuver around whatever crates or units or whatever were being temporarily stored there as he landed the _Partridge_ , or Pip, doing Hector’s job or barreling into him from around one corner or another, or Lise, who he seeks out for ship’s news, or, more recently, sweet Anansi, standing somewhere awkwardly with a smile on his lips and gentle questions and far-off stories on his tongue.

All this to say, Ikarus was _not_ expecting Bishop’s face to be grinning manically at him as he stepped down onto the ramp of the _Partridge_ in _Cass_ ’s shuttle bay.

“Lungs still fucked up, Iky?” he cheerfully asked. Ikarus ground his teeth, shoving past the ship’s doctor. “I’ll take that as a yes!” Bishop followed Ikarus, heedless of past experience. “I’ve been working on a way to help you, my friend, and I’m sure you’ll be glad to h- _ACK_!” he cut off with a scream as Ikarus dug his teeth deep into his nonmetal shoulder.

“Alright, you drive a hard bargain, I can see you’re an astute young man, could you please let go of my arm?” Bishop rambled, voice much higher pitched than normal and obviously strained. Ikarus dramatically spat him out, making a show of his disgust before trying to walk away again.

“Maybe take it under consideration? Next time you hack up another tonne of oil, keep me in mind!” Bishop called after his retreating back, momentarily shaken and trying to hide it. Ikarus growled, whipping around.

 _“Bi’ip,”_ he wheezed, a noise somewhere between a hiccough and a cough mashing together in a poor imitation of Bishop’s name. “ _Leaf,”_ he continued, his intimidating stature carrying his order better than his actual words. Bishop didn’t need telling twice for once, scurrying the opposite way down the tunnel.

 _‘That went well,’ Cass_ reprimanded from the ceiling. Ikarus huffed, turning back to his original route. He needed something to wash the taste of _Bishop_ out of his mouth.

~

5.) “ _Well! Well! Well!_ Llllllllllook what the cat dragged in!” Jonny cried exuberantly. Ikarus watched the many and varied reactions of the _Cassandra_ crew, confused as the voice tugged at something in his memory with no clear recollections attached to it.

“Fucking _hell_ , I don’t want to deal with this,” Lise grumbled, reloading their gun as they turned to face the new...intruders?

“Now is that anyway to greet an old friend, Aphrodite?” Jonny grinned, arms wide and grin manic. Lise growled as they shot him in the stomach.

“Keep talking and the next one’s for your head, _Jonny D’Ville_ ,” Lise snarled. Jonny coughed as the bullets worked themselves from his torso, but didn’t say anything quite yet. _‘Not as practiced as I am at not breathing,_ ’ Ikarus thought, morbid and smug.

“Hiya, Jonny!” Pip cried delightedly before a knife came whizzing out of the darkness behind them. A familiar, iridescent knife that buried itself to the hilt in Jonny’s shoulder while he cackled in maniac glee.

“I see y’all have a new friend!” he wheezed, ignoring the knife currently wobbling sickeningly in his shoulder as he gestured in a grandiose way. Gestured towards _Ikarus_ , he realized with a start.

“Although, I must say, he does look _frightfully_ familiar. What says you, _Chomper?_ ” Jonny said, striding forward the short distance between the doors of the _Aurora_ and the scattered crew of the _Cassandra_ to clasp a comradery hand on Ikarus’ shoulder.

‘Oh yeah,’ Ikarus thinks. ‘I thought one of his crew was Apollon _apollonapollonapollonapollonfindhimfindhimfinDHIM_ \--

“Ah,” Ikarus choked out, biting down another coughing fit. Jonny raised an eyebrow, waiting dramatically for Ikarus to speak. Phantomness slunk up to them, not saying anything as she reached out to yank her knife back. Ikarus vaguely saw movement behind Jonny at the doors of the _Aurora,_ but trusted the others to take care of it.

Oil dribbled slowly down his chin as Ikarus opened his mouth to speak in a rasp, throat tired from screaming at the raiders that had ambushed them not moments before, tongue and teeth stumbling together in a clumsy approximation of speech: “ _Joony Devil_.”

Phantomness collapsed next to them immediately, nonsensically repeating “Joony” as she cried from laughter. Strange voices behind Jonny also began laughing, as well as Pip’s beloved giggle and Lise’s rare chiming chuckle sounded behind Ikarus. Jonny’s face twitched as it darkened somewhat.

“What did you call me?” he hissed dangerously. Ikarus could only smile as he felt the glide of a blade through his tired throat.

‘Worth it,’ he thought as darkness fell and the laughter turned to battlecries.

~

Ikarus felt the bone-deep call as he woke up. Pip was quietly working on something on the other side of his bed, humming and singing bits of whatever song floated through their head quietly.

“Have to go,” he said roughly. Pip stopped abruptly, looking up at him with sad eyes.

“Take me with you?” they asked halfheartedly, their usual routine. Ikarus lightly bit his lip, but shook his head all the same. He had to play his part, after all. “Yeah, I figured,” Pip sighed, gathering up their stuff.

Ikarus got up and pulled on a vest, then set to helping Pip gather their things. He’d been on the _Cassandra_ for two months at this point, probably a personal record if he bothered to keep track of those things (Pip did, and it was), making ample time for the smaller immortal to get comfortable in his space.

He tried not to think too hard about it.

“Any leads this time?” Pip asked. Ikarus thought for a moment, then shrugged. Pip let out a small laugh, sounding more defeated than amused. “Gonna try and keep in contact?” they asked. Ikarus nodded. Pip nodded back, never sure what to say in the moments before Ikarus left, despite having had plenty of practice for it over the millenium.

“I’ll let Lise know why you’ve left. And the captain,” they said dutifully, then got a teasing glimmer in their eye. “And Anansi,” they said meaningfully. Ikarus only stared in confusion back, making Pip huff in frustration. “No wonder you can’t find anything, even when it’s under your nose,” they muttered to themself.

Ikarus opened his mouth to answer, but only received a hacking cough fit to burst an organic lung for his efforts. Pip awkwardly pat his arm, and waited for it to die down.

“Well. I’ll keep an ear out for anything, send it your way if it sounds promising. The usual,” they promised. Ikarus saluted in response, distracted as _apollonapollonapollon_ thrummed through his veins louder and louder the longer he stood on the _Cass_. Pip seemed to understand.

“Get outta here, Iky. Go find your sunlight,” they said, shoving lightly at his stomach. Ikarus grinned weakly at them, then turned and walked back up the ramp to the _Partridge_ ’s loading bay. He went.

~

1.) Ikarus doesn’t keep track of the march of days much, anymore. He has no idea how long he’s been gone, chasing promising lead after promising lead to dead end after dead end, the singing in his veins aching for the one who put it there in the first place.

He’s distracted even from his Making, only able to maintain the most basic of repairs on his random assortment of bots and automatons.

And the _Partridge_ , of course. Always the _Partridge_. The cruel irony of the former pirate ship’s name never failed to escape him, but any other name would never fit her as well as the name of the small, rusty-faced bird would. As the name of his nephew would.

And that was all it took: Ikarus was crying again. _hewasonlysevenyearsoldandyoulefthimbehindyoualwaysleaveeveryonebehind_ \--

Ikarus doesn’t keep track of the march of time much. He didn’t know how long he cried. He doesn’t know how long he’s been looking for Apollon. He doesn’t know how long it’s been since he’s escaped the room, how long it’s taken for the City to grow and grow and grow, how long it’s been since the _Partridge_ scooped him free of the sea and gave him his wings back.

But it’s been a long time, and Ikarus is tired.

Slowly, he wondered back down to the loading bay where it all began. He idly dodged the newest member of his mechanical family, a small cleaning bot more determined than the rest, with a knife loving taped on it by Pip and dotingly dubbed Stabby by the rest of the crew.

He stood in the middle of the dimly lit room. He looked around, the humming of various life support systems and the clanking of the knife-wielding tentacle by the main door and the rumblings and whirrings of various other bots and automatons filling the recycled air.

Underneath it all, the humming of the _Partridge_.

Underneath it all, the call for Apollon.

Underneath it all, the ache for….

_youcansayitnowIkarus_

It’s probably been months since Ikarus has spoken out loud. Maybe even a year or two. The updates with Hector take place in Morse code on his end, and he needs only to hum encouragingly when Pip manages to make direct radio contact with him to ramble about anything and everything under the stars they find interesting until the radio signal faded or Fara demanded their attention back on the _Cass_. He had a track record of fucking up words the first times he speaks after so long without voicing anything, but he knows this name better than he knows himself.

He gives himself permission to say it, and takes a deep breath to steady himself.

 _PartridgePerdixPartridgePerdixPartridgePerdixPartridgePerdix_ louder and louder and louder in his mind until finally: “Perdix,” he whispers.

He stands in the middle of the warm, dim loading bay. He listens to the humming of various life support systems and the clanking of the knife-wielding tentacle by the main door and the rumblings and whirrings of various other bots and automatons filling the recycled air and, underneath it all, the humming of the _Partridge_.

In his self-made haven of metal and wires, he lets himself, just for now, miss the one he cannot chase.

**Author's Note:**

> :DDD


End file.
